History of Tamil Cinema – Episode 12

In 1943, India – still under British rule – was actively participating in the Second World War. The War, apart from its other devastating effects, had a hugely negative impact on the film industry. Not only was it more expensive and more difficult to produce films, the public were hesitant to support the arts during this time of upheaval.

Consequently, there were only eleven Tamil films released that year. Despite this reduced number, the impact of the films released in 1943 had the same impact as earlier films.

The release of Devakanya

16 Jan 1943 saw the release of the mythological film Devakanya which was directed by one of the pioneers of Tamil cinema, R. Pathmanaban, who made his film debut in 1934 with the film Draupadi Vasthrapaharanam.

The title role in Devakanya was played by Kannada actor, producer and director, C Honappa Bhagavathar – the man credited with introducing B Saroja Devi to films.

The second lead was played by the Edde Cantor of India, T.R. Ramachandran.

The female lead was played by U.R. Jeevarathnam who was only 16 at the time.

It was on the sets of Devakanya that Jeevarathnam met her then co-star, V.N. Janaki – who would later marry M.G. Ramachandran. Janaki was the daughter of Rajagopal Iyer, the brother of the famous music composer, Papanasam Sivan.

Ellis R Dungan returns to films

Dhaasipenn or Jothi Malar directed by Ellis R Dungan featured T.R. Mahalingam in the lead role with M.G. Ramachandran playing the second lead.

The film, released on 25 January 1943, was substantially shorter than others as there was a dire shortage of film negatives since this was shot during the Second World War.

Duo directs Arundathi

07 Feb 1943 was the date when the film Arundhathi released. The film was directed by the directorial duo M.L. Tandan and T.R. Sundaram. This film also had C Honappa Bhagavathar and U.R. Jeevarathnam in the lead roles.

The biggest box-office hit of 1943

One of the year’s biggest releases was the M.K.Thyagaraja Bhgavathar starrer, Sivakasi. The female was played by S. Jayalakshmi, the sister of musicians, S. Rajam (who played Lord Muruga in the film) and S. Balachander.

The film was initially begun with director P.K. Raja Sandow but there was a major dispute between him and producer S.M. Sriramulu Naidu. The dispute worsened as the film progressed and came close to turning violent. Raja Sandow walked out and Ramulu took over as director.

Raja Sandow would have later realised what he could have been heading for, as four years later, Ramulu Naidu was arrested, together with M.K. Thyagaraja Bhavagavathar and N.S. Krishnan, for the murder of Tamil film journalist, Lakshmikanthan. (More about this in a future episode in this series)

The release of Kubera Kuchela

R.S. Mani’s directorial, Kubera Kuchela, was released on 14 June 1943 and had P.U. Chinnappa, T.R. Rajakumari. D Balasubramaniam and the comedy husband and wife duo N.S. Krishnan and T.A. Mathuram heading the cast.

Mangamma Sabatham – a milestone in Indian cinema for many reasons.

S.S. Vasan’s Mangamma Sabatham released on 30 July 1943. The film was directed by Acharya, whose real name was Govindachari Raghavachari. He was a lawyer in the Madras High Court and a respected academic. Because of the low status of films at the time, Acharya had worked anonymously on various films since making his private debut as a screenplay writer in 1935 through the film, Ratnavelli.

Ramanarayana Venkataramana Sarma – better known by his screen name, Ranjan – played the male lead. Ranjan made his debut in the 1941 film Ashok Kumar and also starred in the 1948 Pan-Indian film Chandralekha.

The female lead in Kubera Kuchela was played by Bharatha Natyam exponent and Carnatic singer, Vasundhara Devi. She had earlier made her film debut in the 1941 film Rishyasringar.

Vasundhara Devi’s daughter, Vyjayanthimala, would go on to eclipse her mother’s fame and popularity with her lead roles in Tamil, Telugu and Hindi films.

C.V. Raman’s film sets the standard for its remake 30 years later.

C.V. Raman’s directorial, Karaikal Ammaiyar, had V.A. Chellappa, K. Sarangapani, T.S. Durairaj, KR Chellam and Kali N Rathnam in the cast. Sarangapani was a popular comedy actor who later starred in the lead role of Rhambaiyin Kaadhal.

Karaikkal Ammaiyar released on 22 September 1943. 30 years later, an updated version of Karaikal Ammaiyar was made which starred Lakshmi, K.B. Sundarambal, R Muthuram and Sivakumar in the cast.

Why Dewan Bahadhur was such an important film

Dewan Bahadhur, released on 28 October 1943, had the popular T.R. Ramachandran playing the lead role opposite J Suseela. Kalai N Rathnam, the acting Guru of M.G. Ramachandran played an important role in the film.

Also playing an important role in Dewan Bahadhur was C.T. Rajakantham, the mother-in-law of playback singer Thiruchi Loganathan and the grandmother of playback singers T.L. Maharajan and Deepan Chakravarthy.

End of Episode 12. If you have missed previous episodes in this series, click on the link below to access Episode 11. That article has links to all the previous episodes.